But that is when all lateness is in one‘s control. What about when your train is cancelled or your flight is delayed or you had to wait longer for the plumber to arrive? In such cases, there‘s not a lot of psychology involved. Or is there? Some people will genuinely worry about the impact it will have on those left waiting, while others might secretly enjoy the power of their absence. The essential fact is that lateness means breaking a convention – you can only be late in respect of a time agreed with other people. Regardless of psychology, it has a social value. And when we treat other people‘s time as less valuable than our own, we treat them as inferior.

Question 30. What does the word "it" in paragraph 4 refer to?